商用英文專家

標點符號的用法-括號及連字號

Punctuation-Parentheses (brackets) and Hyphen

是否因不知如何正確運用標點符號而困擾呢？讓我們一起學習如何使用「括號」以及「連字號」吧！

PARENTHESES ( ) 括號

英文的括號只有一個用途：

Parentheses, or brackets as they are more commonly referred to, should be used sparingly for extra, non-essential material
that is included in a sentence. They are always used in pairs and can be used to set apart from the rest
of the sentence things such as: dates, sources, or ideas that are loosely connected to the rest of the sentence.
For example: As soon as I arrived in Tokyo, I got lost (a common occurrence when I am travelling) and had
to ask for directions to my hotel.

括號的型態共有三種：

Standard (curved) brackets are the most common, and are what you should use, if necessary, in your writing; but the overuse
of brackets should be avoided as many people equate this with laziness, or an inability to incorporate extra
detail / information into “normal” prose.
Other forms such as square [ ] and curly { } are used for situations when you need to “bracket”
something within a piece of text that is already in brackets. These are best left well alone unless you know
exactly what you are doing, and the situation is totally unavoidable.

THE HYPHEN ( - ) 連字號

英文的連字號有三個用途：

1.用於連接名詞之前的形容詞

Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective (compound adjective) before a noun.
For example: Honey-coated flakes of corn.

Do not use a hyphen when the noun comes first. For example:The flakes of corn are honey-coated.

Use a hyphen with compound numbers. For example: ninety-nine.

2.用於避免語意的困擾

It is also best to use a hyphen to avoid confusion in a sentence. For example: If I said my sister owns “a small appliance
store”, it is impossible to tell exactly what it is. This is where a hyphen helps. She actually owns
a small-appliance store (i.e. a shop selling small appliances) and not a small shop selling appliances.

3.用於連接字與字

Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex- (meaning former), self-, all-; with the suffix -elect; between a prefix and a capitalized
word; and with figures or letters. For example: ex-husband, self-possessed, mid-October, all-inclusive, president-elect,
anti-American, T-shirt, pre-Middle Ages, mid-1990s.
And finally, remember that punctuation style is very subjective, so be guided (but not constrained) by what
has been accepted before, and be sure to follow any editorial rules.